Submitting Institution: Swansea University

REF impact found 54 Case Studies

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Summary of the impact

This case study describes the development, application and
commercialisation of an open source tool, BSMBench that enables supercomputer
vendors and computing centres to benchmark their system's
performance. It comprehensively informs the design and testing of new
computing architectures well beyond other benchmarking tools on
the market, such as Linpack.

The significance of our code is that, unlike other benchmarking tools,
it interpolates from a communication- to a computation-dominated
regime simply by varying the (physics) parameters in the code, thus
providing a perfect benchmark suite to test the response of modern
multi-CPU systems along this axis. The impact of this work has great
reach: a start-up company, BSMbench Ltd, has been founded
to develop and commercialise the software; adopters have included IBM
- one of the giants of the supercomputer world (where it uncovered errors
in their compilers); it has been deployed by Fujitsu to validate
its systems, by HPC Wales, a multi-site, commercially focussed national
computer centre and by Transtec, an HPC company employing
over 150 staff; and tutorial articles about BSMBench have appeared
in magazines such as Linux Format.

This software tool spawned from our research into "Beyond the
Standard Model" (BSM) physics which aims to understand the Higgs
mechanism in particle physics at a fundamental level. This involved
simulating quantum field theories using bespoke code on some of the
fastest supercomputers on the planet.

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the creation and use of advanced simulation
technology by international mining corporations to optimise high value
metal recovery. The technology involved the development of advanced novel
computational methods and software tools to model industrial scale heap
leach processes for large scale industrial application at major mining
operations. This focus on the development of optimised operational
strategies has produced considerable economic benefits measured in the
$multi-millions to industrial sponsors, including $58 million dollars in
additional revenue for one multi-national corporation over one year
following the adoption of engineered heaps based upon the advanced
simulation tools from Swansea.

Summary of the impact

In public perception, antimatter used to be associated with science
fiction, but the creation and trapping of antihydrogen at CERN by
the ATHENA and ALPHA Collaborations has sparked world-wide media
interest in the real science of antimatter. Building on this, we
started a campaign of public dissemination and education to promote and
explain our work through media interviews, popular articles, and public
lectures including a Welsh language component. We developed software
simulators that have been used by school pupils in Masterclasses
to re- create virtually CERN's antihydrogen production. YouTube clips and
webcasts with over 100,000 hits have been produced and we have
hosted thousands of visitors per year in CERN. These activities
resulted in improved understanding of antimatter among school students and
the wider population, and a radical change in the public perception of
antimatter, which is now associated with the experiments at CERN rather
than with Star Trek.

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

A range of techniques based on laser physics and developed since 1993 by
the group of Prof Telle in our analytical laser spectroscopy
unit (ALSU) has led to:

Founding a spin-off company, Applied Photonics which produces
remote-sensing products employing laser spectroscopy to detect the
chemical composition of unknown samples aimed at the military and
nuclear energy industry. This technology has allowed multi-million
pound savings on the operational costs of nuclear plants due to their
functionality in normally inaccessible radioactive environments thus
avoiding the need for a power station shutdown.

Establishing a laboratory in the Atomic Weapons Establishment
(AWE) dedicated to the stewardship of UK's nuclear weapons stockpile and
chemical explosives by detecting isotopic abundances in uranium samples
and analysing the composition of munitions deteriorating in desert
environments;

Assisting the design and development of a new product line of Spectrum
Technologies, a market-leading company which removes specialised
enamel insulation from conductors used in the aerospace industry.

Summary of the impact

Researchers in the Department of Mathematics at Swansea University have
developed novel
geometric methods for image processing, feature extraction and shape
interrogation. The research
has delivered commercial and clinical impact in a variety of settings,
ranging from new water
marking techniques to improve piracy detection in the film industry, to
medical research
investigating the replacement of traditional CT scans with safer MR scans.
The research has also
delivered an automatic feature and gap detection tool that has been
successfully applied to aircraft
data files provided by BAE Systems. A consultancy company is exploiting
the methods and a
licence for the commercialisation of the technology is in process.

Summary of the impact

Research on the copper industry by Swansea historians has acted as a catalyst
for the regeneration of the former Hafod-Morfa copperworks site in
the Lower Swansea Valley. Until recently the abandoned site was associated
only with industrial dereliction, but historical research on
entrepreneurship, innovation and global trade has galvanised a new public
appreciation of its international significance. Since 2010, an extensive
programme of public engagement activities has persuaded key partners
in local government to adopt an ambitious plan to preserve and present
its cultural heritage. The project received national acclaim in
Research Council UK's 2011 report on `Big Ideas for the Future', which
noted that `The example set by the research in Swansea could be used
across the UK' (C1).

Summary of the impact

Patient records underpin the delivery of healthcare. When the recorded
data are aggregated, they provide information to support service delivery,
audit and research. Research conducted at Swansea University from 2000 to
2011 showed that variations in the structure and content of records across
the NHS limit their quality and utility. To address this, the University
collaborated with the Royal College of Physicians to develop
evidence-based national standards for the structure and content of patient
records. First launched in 2008, the standards have been endorsed by
numerous statutory bodies and professional organisations, including the
Department of Health, NHS England, NHS Litigation Authority,
Mid-Staffordshire Inquiry, Care Quality Commission, General Medical
Council, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and Academy of Medical
Sciences.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Research at Swansea University on light therapy has contributed to an
extensive market in laser and intense pulsed light (IPL) products for the
therapeutic and cosmetic treatment of skin conditions. Impacts include:
globally registered intellectual property; local manufacturing of a wide
range of laser and IPL products; their distribution to over 40 countries;
and resulting benefits to health in treating acne, rejuvenating skin and
removing hair. The research undertaken by Swansea University and its
companies pioneered this market in partnership with Procter & Gamble
and Unilever; and established a joint venture with Sony UK to manufacture
these laser and IPL products in South Wales. The Welsh government views
this collaboration as an exemplar for the resurgence of UK specialist
manufacturing.

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on impacts that have arisen from research on the
economics of pain and pain management established by Phillips on his
arrival in Swansea in 1997. The impact of the research programme has been
multifaceted, encompassing economic, public awareness, policy and practice
dimensions and a reframing of priorities. It is exemplified by:

engagement with pharmaceutical companies to introduce new therapeutic
agents for the management of patients with chronic pain;

re-focusing of patient management to embrace the impact of pain on
whole persons and their communities;

enhancing the status of pain and its management in the development of
health policy and practice; and

an increase in the awareness within the UK and EU political community
of the range of consequences associated with pain.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Research in the area of mobile digital storytelling conducted at Swansea
University has shown that hundreds of millions of people are disempowered
by lack of appropriate digital devices, services and infrastructure. In a
programme of research starting with real users in communities in rural
India, Southern Africa and rural UK, we designed, developed and tested new
systems, leading to the integration and delivery of new techniques and
platforms by major service providers, including IBM. Open source software
developed to simplify media creation and sharing is being used by
communities around the world, and has been downloaded more than 14,000
times. The research has increased awareness of "digital divide" issues and
has changed attitudes in technology companies and public audiences.